Undefeated Raiders proving they're for real this season

It has only been five years, but it seems a lot longer, doesn’t it?

The Raiders last started an NFL season 3-0 in 2021. Sunday, they got there again, having everyone available to run Klint Kubiak’s offense while getting enough big plays defensively to leave New Orleans 35-27 winners over the Saints in an absolutely wild affair at the Caesars Superdome.

The last time the Raiders started 3-0, they made the playoffs. Coincidentally, it’s also their most recent postseason appearance. So perhaps this is a harbinger of what’s to come. For now, Las Vegas is tied for the AFC West lead with Kansas City, which happens to be next up for the Silver and Black in a week at Allegiant Stadium.

Patrick Mahomes vs. Maxx Crosby again. And maybe more Raiders fans in the stadium rather than the annual Chiefs Kingdom takeover we’ve witnessed the last few seasons. That joint will be jumpin’.

"It was far from a perfect game, and so you have to just keep kind of playing through the smoke,” Kubiak said. “I'm proud of our resilience, the way we kept fighting.”

Brock Bowers returned to the field after missing the first two weeks of the 2026 NFL season to repair his left knee. The talented tight end had to be a sight for Kirk Cousins’ eyes, not to mention the rest of the offense. This is what the Raiders and their fans have been anxiously waiting for — an offense with all its components available to it.

Bowers had missed the first two games after having a meniscus trim procedure on his left knee late in training camp. But he declared himself ready to go Sunday and go he got involved immediately from the Raiders’ first play from scrimmage when Cousins connected with him in the right flat for eight yards.

He would ultimately finish with 10 catches on 13 targets for 116 yards and the game-winning touchdown, a 4-yard connection from Cousins.

“Brock’s always been a guy we can count on,” Kubiak said. “But for him to step on the field and do what he did, we’re really proud of him.” Bowers on return:

But this one was more than one player’s return to the field. Much, much more.

It was Mike Washington Jr. showing his speed and power as the rookie running back scored his first NFL TD, a 36-yard run.

It was Cody White catching a touchdown pass yet again, finding the end zone for the second straight week.

It was Cousins throwing for three scores, not getting picked off and bouncing back from getting sacked three times against an aggressive Saints pass rush.

And that’s just the offense.

There was Malcolm Koonce forcing a fumble that Crosby pounced on to snuff out a potential New Orleans scoring drive. There was Jeremy Chinn coming up big on 4th-and-2 at the Raiders 21 with a sack of Tyler Shough. It’s Zeke Masses with an interception, his third in the last two games. And with the Saints trying one last time to pull even and force overtime, Nakobe Dean knocked the ball out of Juwan Johnson’s arms and Eric Stokes recovered to seal the deal. In all, four forced turnovers in the fourth quarter.

You want a team victory? That’s what you got from the Raiders Sunday.



If you think this 3-0 start is a fluke, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s been going on over at the Intermountain Health Performance Center the last five years. The transformation undertaken by general manager John Spytek is yielding positive results. Kubiak and his staff are coaching these guys up. The players are buying what Kubiak and his staff are selling.

Are they perfect? No one says they are. But when mistakes occur, they don’t manifest themselves into more errors. This team learns, corrects and moves on.

“It’s a team game,” Kubiak said. “They find a way to win. That’s what good teams do.”

Most sports books had this team’s season win total at 5 1/2. The Raiders are already more than halfway toward eclipsing that number, including wins on the road at Los Angeles over the Chargers and Sunday’s win in New Orleans. Remember, this team won all of three games the entire 2025 season.

Right now, there’s no satisfaction in the Raiders’ locker room. Joy? Absolutely. Nobody enjoys losing. But as Kubiak says, there’s 17 one-game seasons and the Raiders have only had three of those. So there’s a great deal of football left to be played.

And they didn’t come out of Sunday unscathed. Receiver Jack Bech has a fractured forearm. Guard Jackson Powers-Johnson has a groin injury. So that depth on the Raiders’ offensive line will once again be tested.

Complacency is this team’s enemy. And it’s unlikely given the veteran leaders in that locker room it will allow that to creep in. The last thing guys that have been around this organization want is to go through losing once again.